Improvement in railway-switches



"B. HINKLEY.

Railway-Switch.

Patented May H, 1875.

Mum THE GRAPm CO.PNOTO-LITN.39 & 41 PARK PLACLILY.

NI'IED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

BENJAMIN HINKLEY, OF TROY, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILWAY-SWITCHES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 163.198, dated May 11,1875 application filed January 10, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN HiNKLEY, a resident of the city of Troy, inthe county of Rensselaer and State of New York, have invented certainImprovements in Railway- Switches, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had to the accompanyin g drawing.

One part of this invention consists of the means, hereinafter described,whereby each of the two stationary rails of a single track istemporarily connected with the corresponding one of the fixed innerrails of two converging tracks, at or before the point to which the saidinner rails converge, substantially as hereinafter described.

Another part consists of the devices, hereinafter described, whereby theends of the two stationary rails of a single track are temporarilyconnected with the ends of each of the two pairs of fixed rails of thetwo converging tracks, in combination with the means, here inafterdescribed, by which a car running toward the single track on either oneor the other of the two converging tracks secures the connection of thesingle track with the track upon which the car is running.

In the aforesaid drawing, Figures 1 and 2 are plans showing thisinvention, and Fig. 3 shows the first aforesaid part of the same. Fig. 4is a section of Fig. 1, at the line 2 z.

A A are the statiorfary rails of a single main track, and B B and G Uare the fixed rails of two tracks which converge toward the single one.D D are two converging switch-rails, which extend from the ends of therails A A to or past the place, m, to which the inner rails B G of theconverging track converge, and to the ends of the latter rails. In Figs.1 and 2, the switch-rails D D extend past the place to which therails BO converge, and in Fig. 3 only to that place. The rails D D. areconnected firmly together by bars 0, and are pivoted at f, so that bothends of those rails shall vibrate simultaneously in opposite directions.The

rails D D are so arranged and pivoted, in respect to the rails A A and BG, that when the rails D D are turned and set at one side, as shown inFigs. 2 and 3, the rail D is then in the line of the rails A and B, andconnects them together, and that when the rails D D are turned and setto the other side, as shown in Fig. 1, and indicated by dotted lines inFig. 3, the railDis then in the line of and connects together the railsA and O. The switch-rails D D alone thus directly and completely connectthe rails A and A with the converging rails B and O, and do away withthe usual frog and guard-rail, and dispense with the separate sliding orvibrating section or sections of arail or rails, as heretofore used ator about the place where the inner rails of the converging tracks wouldcross, if continued. G G are two switch-rails arranged outside of therails D D, and secured thereto by extensions of the bars 6, so that therails G G and D D shall all vibrate together. The rails G G are soarranged, in respect to the rails D D, the rails A A of the singletrack, and the outer rails B and O of the converging tracks, that whenthe rail D connects the rail A with the rail G, as shown in Fig. 1, therail G then connects the rail A with the rail 0, and that when the railD connects the rail A with the rail B, the rail G then connects the railA with the rail B, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The switch-rails D D or DD and G G are generally to be moved and set in line with the rails ofone and the other of the converging tracks by means of the usual or anysuitable known devices for moving and setting rail way-switches bymanual power.

To render the switch self-actin g, arms or levers H H are extended alongthe convergin g tracks, and pivoted at the ends '5 z" to the tracks, andconnected at their other ends by links j j to the connected switch-railsD D G G. When the switch-rails are not set to properly connect the railsG G with the rails A A, or are set to connect the latter with the railsB B, as in Fig. 2, the arm or lever H will then be inclined toward oragainst the rail 0, so that the flange of a wheel of a car approachingthe switch on the rails O G will press between the rail 0 and the leverH ,as indicated in Fig. 4., and will thereby move that lever, and causeit to move the rails D and G into line with the rails (J G and A Abefore the car can reach the end of the rail 0. The move ment of therails D G into line with the rails G 0 brings the lever H into aninclined position against the rail B, as in Fig. 1, so that in case acar should then approach the switch by the rails B B, a flange of awheel of the car would press between the rail B and the lever H, andthus move the latter, so as to cause it to bring the rails G and D intoline with the rails B B before the car could arrive at the end of therail B. The levers HE and their inclines 7a is should be much longerthan indicated in the drawing. Fixed stops Zlimit the lateral movementsof the switch-rails D D and G G.

When the ends of the rails B O are apart from each other, or terminatebefore reaching the place toward which they converge, as in Figs. 1 and2, car-wheels having flanges on both sides of the treads thereof canthen be used, and the expense of uniting and shaping those rails into,or adding thereto, a wedgeshaped end, as shown in Fig. 3, is avoided. Byuniting the ends of the rails B O, or extending them to the place towhich they converge, as shown in Fig. 3, the switch-rails D D may beshorter, and need not be moved so far to shift them into line with therails B O as when the latter are separated at their ends,

as in Figs. 1 and 2. The rails G G are longer When the rails G G areshort, as in Fig. 3, they may be pivoted at one end to the rails B O,and connected at the other end by links to the rails D D, instead ofbeing fastened rigidly to the latter; or the rails G D may be connectedtogether in one pair, and the rails D G in another, and the two pairsmounted on separate pivots and connected together by links, so that ineach case the rails D D G G shall all move together in respect to therails A A and B B O G, as hercinbefore described.

7 What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The two inside-converging switch-rails D D, connected together andpivoted between their ends, in combination with the stationary rails A Aand the fixed converging rails B G, terminating at or before reachingthe point to which they converge, as shown and described.

2. The combination of the inside-converging switch-rails D D, outsideswitch-rails Gr G, and safety switching-levers H H, with the fixed railsA A, B B, and O O, substantially as described. 7

In testimony whereof I hereunto subscribe my name this 7th day ofNovember, 1873.

BENJAMIN HINKLEY.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM F. BrssELL, AUSTIN F. PARK.

